Note
Popular Electronics, Apr 1965, p. 11.
The Conar 400 transmitter and Conar 500 receiver were sold as kits by NRI, the National Radio Institute. The pair are affectionately known as the Conar Twins. The 500 is a classic novice receiver.
The Twins were announced in a "new products" segment in Popular Electronics and Electronics World magazines in September 1964, but were not actually advertised for sale until April 1965 when a full page ad appeared in Popular Electronics.
The main business model for NRI was correspondence courses in radio and electronics. They also sold some decent test equipment under both the NRI and Conar brands. Several pieces of test equipment are the same form factor as these twins.The Twins were NRI's only venture into ham radio gear. NRI obviously re-used some of their standard test equipment components such as the cabinets, knobs and styling which match that of the signal tracer.
Kit, $37.50
Wired, $56.50
References
Brief description. Popular Electronics, Sep 1964, p .24.
Brief description. Electronics World, Sep 1964, p. 98.
Review. Popular Electronics, Apr 1965 p .68.